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Friday, February 12, 2016

review || DRIFT HEAT { blog tour } by Adrian Hale

Adrian R. Hale | January 28, 2016 | Sport Romance★★★★★

SOURCE: INKSLINGER PR

I didn't want to only be known as the pretty, blonde daughter of a famous race car driver. I wanted to make a name for myself and I wasn't going to let anyone get in my way. So when I saw the opportunity of a lifetime, I jumped. Being the face of the hottest new racing team in the business was a dream come true.

It'll be a miracle if we can get this team to the championship title without killing each other. Or worse. Because the last thing I'm going to do is wreck my career by jumping in bed with a race car driver.

{ about adrian r. hale } .

Adrian R. Hale is a whirlwind of energy and optimism, just as ready to tell you about her books as she is to invite you over for cookies. She is a big dreamer and believes in chasing them down with speed and enthusiasm, much like the characters she writes. You can find her cycling around Austin, TX, running trails, baking gourmet cupcakes, beautifying people for weddings and photo shoots, and traveling all over the country in pursuit of those interests. Once upon a time, Adrian went to college thinking she would be a journalist but dropped out to go to beauty school. Later she wrote a novel about a hair and makeup artist, so things have definitely come full circle! She loves hearing from her readers at adrianrhale@gmail.com.

{ review } .

Can I be candid a moment?

I read many books at any given time. I have at least 4 in-process on my phone Kindle app, those 4 and maybe one or two others on my actual Kindle, let's not forget the one or two on my Nook from pre-reviewing days that I love to revisit (usually a Cristin Harbertitle, to be honest), and 3 paperbacks started and another getting ready to be cracked open.

I keep them all straight. I have a good memory like that (have to, when I have 20 or so books pre-written in my head...). I tend to read many books because eventually, my mind starts to wander when reading, and I have to put the book down -- but I still want to read, so I work on another book. Keeps my mind young, I say.

But this one... Drift Heat had me engrossed from the beginning, and I begrudgingly had to put it down just so I could start another book that was due for tour today. From the beginning, Griffin and Shelby drew me in with their sparring ways and hot chemistry.

I'm getting the feeling that this team is a little more touchy-feely than I'm used to...I'm not going to lie; it's pretty awesome getting hugs from so many guys. There's just one guy I don't expect to ever hug me. He's even pretending I don't exist right now...

Modeling for Smoke & Mirrors racing gives Shelby the in she needs to move on from the garage she ran with her father and brother. Doing so, though, semi-estranged her from her overprotective, former NASCAR racer & legend, father. Shelby has more respect for cars than she probably does for herself, something that comes across loud and clear as she's modeling on the team's prize Supra and the photographer is directing her to do poses that have her questioning how to execute said poses without hurting the car beneath her.

That is, until that car's driver comes barreling on the scene.

Griffin and Shelby start out rocky, to say the least. They're all harsh words and claws, but if there's anything Griffin needs in a woman, it's that she'll go toe to toe with him -- something Shelby will do time and time again throughout their story.

He keeps giving me shit even if he loves me to pieces...

I loved watching as Griffin thawed toward the woman he assumed was only a pretty face, just as much as I loved watching Shelby find a place in this team. She wanted to be more than her father's daughter, and she set off on a journey to do just that -- keeping her parentage to herself. One of my favorite early scenes was when she and some of the guys are shooting a video for the social media accounts Shelby took over.

And she promptly gets them to drop their jaws.

Granted, she then scrambles to come up with an excuse, still keeping her father's name out of everything, but she makes a name for herself, showing that she knows her way around a car and is more than capable of handling them.

This story was so much more than just a racer and a model; Shelby gets everything she wants and more, and Griffin does as well. The end of this story had me cheering for them both. I am hopeful that this is not the beginning and end for this racing team; I hope to see a series out of it! C'mon, like how about Ryan? I loved his early friendship with Shelby... And then Cole and Ezra, and their (slightly nerdy) superhero ways...? I suppose I could go to Ms. Hale's debut piece; I did just learn that Griffin's brother, Talan, has a book... I may just have to look into that....

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a quick note from { mignon } ...

I AM NO LONGER ACTIVE IN REVIEWING

The last two years has been incredibly rewarding, giving me the opportunity to pick up new-to-me authors, as well as new-to-the-world authors. I have enjoyed supporting publishing houses as well as the indie author, and in doing so, I learned a lot about the marketing aspect of writing a book and selling it as a self-published author.

I have re-focused my journey to more writing-minded. I still read and review! But not nearly at the rate I was; three books a day has turned to three books a month.

I will no longer be accepting individual review requests (unless it's specifically author-to-author, then it will be highly considered).

I will definitely be posting reviews for commitments I have already made, though.Thank you for understanding, & thank you to all those I have worked with over the last year plus!

GOODREADS updates

He is the exact public person I despise. You know the type -- all biblical with publicized praying and verses all over his public persona. Great. Good for you. Bet you're not like that behind closed doors...

Which is exactly what Esther thinks of him.

Saint and Esther attend the same super religious college. Esther is on the fast track to becoming a nun, and no I do not kid, and Saint, given name Francis, can do just about whatever he wants, because he is the star athlete and the school knows he has connections. What in the world can these two have in common? The actions of their parents.

But where Saint does what his father says, usually, because his father is pushing him toward a pro-football careers, Esther follows her parents (father) because if she didn't... Her life would literally be a living hell.

I really enjoyed these two, once we started to get to know Saint a little bit better. My only drawback with the book would be the last half goes by in super-fast time. While it helped to keep the story moving, I would have liked to see more of that time drawn out so the feelings and emotions of our two characters felt more genuine and real -- rather than simply a two month courting that their lives demanded.

I'm giving the book the full 5 stars because it came out of left-field for me. It was a book that I didn't expect to like, but the author wove it in a way that I fell hard for our characters both as individuals and as a couple. I liked watching Esther grow and find her voice in life, just as I liked watching playboy, always for the chase Saint, settle down and find a person to be terribly protective over. I loved him most in the last two chapters.

Here's something you may know about me if you've followed my reviews -- I'm an epilogue reader. I will almost always read the epilogue first. Call me a spoilsport or no fun, or whatever but that's how I've been reading books for years. It's no wonder that when I write books, I tend to have the epilogue all figured out before I even start with "Once upon a time...".

That said... I read this epilogue and while I liked it, I just couldn't get past the ages of our characters. Couldn't do it. So I read the beginning. Still... If anything, the age of our characters was even more pronounced. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to read this. You see, I have an issue with "Happily ever after" and the hardly-twenty crowd, let alone an eighteen year old.

But that's my hang-up.

Another thing you may know about me? I will sometimes read a book in what I call a inside-out fashion. I jump all over the place until I find a snippet of story that absolutely grips me. And people -- there are a few of those parts in Everything. So because I found those gripping parts, I put my faith in Erin Noelle, and I started from page one -- and I gave Everett and Belle a chance.

And I'm so glad I did.

Everett and his twin sister have been making music forever -- literally. They're the children of a rockstar; music has always been their life. When their father's group decides to get back together (dad always said he'd go back when the twins were done with school), Mason tells the label -- if you take me, you're taking my kids: thus, giving Everett and Ashlynn the opportunity to take their music to a larger level than they have before.

Along the way, with a local gig, Everett meets Belle -- and so begins their story.

This is a story about growing up. This is a story about following your heart -- be it for a person or a career, or even both. It is about learning to trust the person you are giving your heart to, and about taking the ever-looming jump into unknown feelings. When you put your life, your wants, your desires in someone else's hands, the world opens up -- and it certainly does for Everett and Belle.

The part I most appreciated was that the author made Everett true to his age and situation. Belle was too, yes, but it was Everett and his new lifestyle that had me wanting to see true characterization for. He's a guy; he's a musician; he's new to love. He makes mistakes. And for those mistakes, I truly got on board with this story.

Everett and his Tinker Bell were incredibly cute. I liked that there's a decent time jump at the end, further allowing -- you guessed it -- growth of our characters. I'm excited to watch more of them when (if?) Ashlynn's story comes out.

TOURING with ...

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FTC Disclosure

Unless otherwise stated, all books I review are books I've received for free from the author or publisher. I receive nothing, monetary or otherwise, for expressing my opinion and/or promoting the books. I do, however, participate in the Amazon Affiliate program, and as such I do receive a small commission when these links are clicked. Affiliate links and free books in no way affect my opinion.